I still can;t believe what Diaz did to Karunuday. Then he had the gaul to call him out in the media like he was some big man. Truly disgusting display.

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You still backing "The Quitter" on that whole deal? You are right about a truly disgusting display, I can't believe "The Quitter" left his teammates high and dry when he chose to leave before the NCAAs. But yeah Manny was the bad guy in that whole deal - right...

You still backing "The Quitter" on that whole deal? You are right about a truly disgusting display, I can't believe "The Quitter" left his teammates high and dry when he chose to leave before the NCAAs. But yeah Manny was the bad guy in that whole deal - right...

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Consider for a moment that your idol could be in the wrong for once, consider it.

Consider for a moment that your idol could be in the wrong for once, consider it.

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Man you are right Manny was wrong in this one…..he should have told 'The Quitter" to clean out his locker in February instead of suspending him for a month and letting him come back to the team. That way KU, I mean TQ, could have left with his head held high. Thanks for making me see the light.

Well, Georgia made the semis last year and gave UVa a good match. The SEC did not have an up year, but Georgia was still the best team, and they look like the best team in the SEC this year. That's all anyone is saying when they vote in an SEC poll, right?

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That's right Clark. And you have to admit that the Dawgs look much better than the Cavies this year.

The preseason poll is voted on by the men’s tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote. The team they vote in the number one spot gets their vote for overall champion, with each vote counting as one point.

Pretty close to what I would have had - only changes would be to have Florida around 2 or 3, Ole Miss a few spots lower, and Miss St a few spots lower

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That's far too low for the Gamecocks. I think the Gamecocks can finish top 4 SEC and maybe make a sweet 16 run in the NCAAs. Kyle Koch is becoming better everyday which is impressive to see what used to be just one of many players from the Irmo pot. That's a hard area to come out of and be a good player. Competitive and Kyle as earned it.

That's far too low for the Gamecocks. I think the Gamecocks can finish top 4 SEC and maybe make a sweet 16 run in the NCAAs. Kyle Koch is becoming better everyday which is impressive to see what used to be just one of many players from the Irmo pot. That's a hard area to come out of and be a good player. Competitive and Kyle as earned it.

When I get back home I'll have to do a SEC briefing like the way ClemsonTennis does on the ACC. I'm usually at the head of the pack beating the drum for the SEC but this ain't going to be a good year for the conference. Well sure there will probably still be 6 or 7 teams if not more that find their way into the top 15 by the end of the year but that'll be on paper only. Right now I don't see anybody from the conference making the NCAA Quarters unless they draw each other in the Round of 16.

When I get back home I'll have to do a SEC briefing like the way ClemsonTennis does on the ACC. I'm usually at the head of the pack beating the drum for the SEC but this ain't going to be a good year for the conference. Well sure there will probably still be 6 or 7 teams if not more that find their way into the top 15 by the end of the year but that'll be on paper only. Right now I don't see anybody from the conference making the NCAA Quarters unless they draw each other in the Round of 16.

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Agreed. A&M and UGA may be the only ones worth talking about.
And my Vols of course! (wishful thinking)

Wouldn't be too discouraged about Sec team performances at the indoor tourney.
When the spring outdoor season starts, many of the northern "indoor teams", will experience a drop in performance.
We'll probably be asking in April and May, why the ND's, Illinois, tOSU's deserved to be ranked top ten back in February.

Wouldn't be too discouraged about Sec team performances at the indoor tourney.
When the spring outdoor season starts, many of the northern "indoor teams", will experience a drop in performance.
We'll probably be asking in April and May, why the ND's, Illinois, tOSU's deserved to be ranked top ten back in February.

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I don't klnow about ND and Illinois, but I really doubt you will be asking thta about OSU.

When I get back home I'll have to do a SEC briefing like the way ClemsonTennis does on the ACC. I'm usually at the head of the pack beating the drum for the SEC but this ain't going to be a good year for the conference. Well sure there will probably still be 6 or 7 teams if not more that find their way into the top 15 by the end of the year but that'll be on paper only. Right now I don't see anybody from the conference making the NCAA Quarters unless they draw each other in the Round of 16.

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Top Dawg, I must say I am surprised that you have soured so on the SEC. This may be a down year. But one thing that you can rest assured on is that Manny D, will have those Dawgs rolling come tournament time. For you to say that you don't think that any SEC teams will reach the quarters is a stretch. Georgia will be there. They've been there for the last so many years and they will be there again.

Top Dawg, I must say I am surprised that you have soured so on the SEC. This may be a down year. But one thing that you can rest assured on is that Manny D, will have those Dawgs rolling come tournament time. For you to say that you don't think that any SEC teams will reach the quarters is a stretch. Georgia will be there. They've been there for the last so many years and they will be there again.

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The SEC went 2-6 at the Indoors against teams from outside the SEC so it's hard to get excited about that. I can't think of any team in the conference that is better than they were a year ago or at least nobody has shown it to this point in the season.

I don't doubt that Georgia and many of the SEC schools will do better during the outdoor season but when was the last time Georgia started a year 3-5? You got to imagine they'll drop pretty significantly in the rankings maybe as low as the 15-20 range and if they can't work there way back above 13 by the end of the year they'd be looking at UVA, USC, UCLA, or Ohio State in the Round of 16. The talent is there for them to be a top 5 team but the depth is so razor thin that if one guy gets injured/suspended/sick well you saw what this weekend looked like.

I loved the fight they put up last night against Mississippi State with just 4 guys and it seems like when their back is against the wall they come out fighting i'd just like to see that same fire every match.

TopDawg... Did you even read about UGA losses or just look at their record and assume they are 3-5 and are not a good team.

..........................Try doing your homework next time.

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Hey Youngster/Newb Jadoc, do you even know who you are talking to? Maybe you should do your homework. Try reading some college tennis threads, you are embarrassing yourself here. But giving the entire forum a good laugh :lol:

Hey tball2day Newb... I have been a member a lot longer than you... so that doesn't really apply to me. Although I don't post a lot, I have and do read the forums quite often

I am well aware of who he is and didn't mean to come off so harsh, which is why I apologized.

I was more surprised at his assessment of UGA and their chances given who they played and circumstances of losses. I didn't even go into the crappy experimental scoring that was used during indoor season.

Fair enough, apology from this end as well - just didn't like seeing TD attacked or insulted, the guy does so much to keep college tennis alive and interesting on this forum. Agree, hate the scoring, want it to get back where fitness and endurance in tennis means something. No-ad scoring, wow, so bad. All of it.

what do you guys make of this opinion from over on the Texas A&M forums?

---As long as the current coaches remain, that's who we'll be - good but never challenging for championships. I think Slick Rick finds that frustrating because the facilities and support are top notch and we've seen teams like Baylor consistently achieve more success.

"I agree with this statement. I think our overall package (academics, location, facilities, resources, conference) are probably top-25ish but not top-10 and although that is a very subjective opinion, IF it is correct then being top-15ish every year is slightly overachieving.
That said, as pointed out, Baylor has done more with less.

To be fair, the rules now limit overaged internationals so we're not going to see Baylor or anyone else winning a national championship with a bunch of 25 year-old Germans. We are also not properly situated to recruit a team full of Americans good enough to win it all. That's not a slight - very few schools are and we will be able to get great Texas kids and some out-of-staters, but we're probably not beating USC and UF for CA and FL kids.

I think Denton's "Come play for me and I'll get you to the US Open Main Draw" pitch has run its course. That's not to say we won't keep getting great players that want to play pro tennis, but I don't think many 18 year-olds care that he was a top-10 player. He's certainly not going out there and beating them in baseline games the way Peter Smith at USC does. Not for a long while now.

I'm not saying you have to be the silver fox Pete Carroll of tennis the way Smith is to win a NC, but appearances matter. At the same time Brian Boland at UVA looks like a bridge troll and was a pretty pedestrian player himself but is the hardest working guy in tennis, hires great assistants, and gets it done.

I think Denton does a pretty good job. We could do worse. I do think he'd be better off with a younger assistant fresh off the tour or at least fresh off of a great playing career, or a young go-getter that would travel around the world getting him top international talent.

I think if we're going to beat USC, we're going to have to do it with 3-4 international studs in the lineup. Like it or not, we're never going to be a Final 4 team without some Euro guns up top. Making that happen takes an incredible amount of hard work. With nearly every kid in the world being accessible via internet, Denton's "connections" don't mean as much as they used to when Virginia has some hustling assistant making 15 international recruiting trips per year. You know McKinley and Denton ain't doing that. Traveling to the majors every year and sitting in the stands and calling it recruiting just isn't cutting it. Anyway that's my long-winded opinion.

IMO Denton has the job as long as he wants it if he continues to be as successful as he has been. It would be nice to have someone that hustled more and I do think we could do better. I have no axe to grind with Denton. I wish he wasn't a sip and I wish he wasn't so fat but he seems like a nice enough guy and if he won big I'd like him just the same. I do think someone on the staff under the age of 50 and who doesn't use a continental grip would be a good move.

If looking back, have to keep in mind the foreign players over the last 10 years have come in much older than the typical 18 year old American so their impact has been bigger, and that impact is still affecting the teams today. They played pro a year or two them came in as a freshman many of them being 20-21 and that 2 or three year difference can be huge. Americans graduate at 22, some of the foreign guys on the rosters will be 24-25 years old when they graduate. With newer NCAA regulations, supposedly, that gap shouldn't be as big as it has been going forward. Not saying they aren't more talented, but they have in general, been older coming in.

With nearly every kid in the world being accessible via internet, Denton's "connections" don't mean as much as they used to when Virginia has some hustling assistant making 15 international recruiting trips per year.

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This is hilarious. Virginia has no foreign players in its top 10 this year, and even has a heavy in-state group.

I've said it before and I will say it again. Boland's recent recruiting laziness will cost them in the near future. I see Virginia slipping into the 5-10 range in coming seasons. He has started to just go by the American recruit rankings. His teams were better when he was hungry. And I don't care if they didnt win the title, I would take 2008 Virginia all day over 2013 Virginia.

I still think, SEC is a good conference, also the domination is over, but there are some candidates for Top8 this year, and the conference will easily get 5 or 6 teams , maybe 7, in the Top20 for sure. But so far i see only 7 , maximum 8 teams for the Ncaas in May.

1) UGA still when everyone plays, i know everyone will be surprised , but they are still a heck of a team on all positions., 1, 3 and 4 not played vs MSU and they still nearly won, they will not win the title, but Elite 8 is still possible, took UCLA to the wire.
depth and Waglands behaviour could be a problem; lost only Ku Singh and Marco Nunez from last years team, by the way, where is nunez? ah at FSU.

2) Texas A&M, i think they ve great talent, but not really showed it so long, but they will be even better outdoors,
they beat the Vols, so they are 2. Should ve beaten Illini, but okay, on the road, indoors, they beat them now in their home. They will play Vols and UGA plus Florida at home, so they are the little favourite to win sec, but they ve road problems allways. Lost only Angus, but got Lunkin.
Aggies have a very outstanding 1 to 4 lineup, plus great doubles. the real no.1 is missing.

3) Vols, still good enough on Top2 , from the results alone they are better as UGA, but not from talent, some depth, and very good doubles, lost only a very solid Edward Jones and Patrick Taylor, Liebietis and Resse are one of the best 1-2 punches in NCAAs, Kerner at 6 is great value. The Okla State loss was a bad one.

4) UK also they not played in ITA Indoors, really experienced team , 6 seniors ! ( i ll wonder how they solve this problem next season..), the real top players are missing, also Jomby can compete with a lot of people, Rossi is badly missed for sure. Lost 2 times vs notre dame, which looked weak in first, but Notre Dame as better as everyone expected. Fought well in a 0-4 loss vs Ohio State. Cause of their experience i still bet on Top4 Wildcat team !

5) Florida, really surprising me, good win over UGA, 4 good seniors, really good freshman in Lippma and Hidalgo, Shelton plus Merklein really could beat a dynasty here. Lost only van Overbeek in bigger things, could be a tough out this season, but not will make Elite 8 (only if everything falls in place) and not Top4 in SEC.

6) MSU, a really down year , lost very important players also they got Lakat now, fought well in indoors, but still nearly lost vs UGA-2 of their best players, do not really like MSU, but they can prove me better, roster is too inexperienced, still has to find themselves as a team. Making the Indoors was good, beating Georgia was just lucky. They can fight , lots of close wins.

7) Vanderbilt, really a decent team, took easily out Memphis and LSU so far. played Texas tough, also it was 0-4. Good mix of a team, they sit on 6 in my eyes now, but also can fall down. (can also move up past MSU)

8) Ole Miss, i still have hope in this team, also it will be tough in SEC this season, Scholtz is one of the best in the nation, 5 and 6 are really a weakness, 2 till 4 can play with anyone, doubles is a weakness, even the Ncaas can be in danger , if this 50%-win-rule is still in place..they ve just one win so far. Still not know their bad scheduling....; sit on 8 right now, cause of their history (i am a long time rebels-fan)

9) Auburn , had them above Ole Miss, until losing big at Clemson, Mies is really missed, beating some decent teams in Drake and GTech, roster is too thin, to really compete.

10) USC, a team i do not know too much about, they do doing some fine things, but still have 4 losses vs decent teams, also they took out Harvard easily. 4-3 at home vs a down-year MTSU-team is also not a standout result. If everything falls in place they can compete with Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss for the 8th place in SEC, but not more. Mihov on one is a weak point, also he has a good ranking. Andrew Schaefer is top freshman.

11) LSU, also not knowing much about them, lots of freshman, lost Szaczinski, Borsos, Bowtell, this really hurts. The depth on all places is not there. Will be a tough season.

12) Alabama, still more talent as Arkansas, but still bad, Proskura and O'Shaugnessy are great guys, but thats all, problem is they will not win allways 1 and 2..certainly not..and behind them...it is falling down..., chances are there to be better as LSU

13) Arkansas , really bad, they ve lost to Dartmouth and Purdue...surprisingly they took Tulsa on the road to the wire

alabama, auburn, msu all in action this weekend in Blue and Gray Tennis classic. MSU should compete for the title there.

3) Vols, still good enough on Top2 , from the results alone they are better as UGA, but not from talent, some depth, and very good doubles, lost only a very solid Edward Jones and Patrick Taylor, Liebietis and Resse are one of the best 1-2 punches in NCAAs, Kerner at 6 is great value. The Okla State loss was a bad one.

Nice post. I enjoyed reading your input. I think Dromsky and Kerner are big improvements to #5 and #6 for us for sure. I think they and Reese are going to be key for us this year.

Very good first post Chris-Swede. Do you go to matches in person? You seem to know a good bit.

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not a chance since i live in germany

but i am following all college tennis since a decade i think, 10 years, and i know the european players a little bit, Andreas Mies i watched sometimes here cologne, i spoke to Marco Born (NCaa Doubles Winner with Siljestrom for MTSU) , i watched Yannick Born (know also MTSU) , i once played and beat Freddy Gelbrich (now at San Diego State) => still cannot get it ive beaten him really high in doubles..okay he was only 14 or so...

i read the blogs, i study the sport a lot, knowing all the names and their results
i am just a great fan

TopDawg hurried me up a little bit...i had the idea to make this ranking for the sec even before and also for some other bigger conferences

i had my smartphone all the times up on livescoring for the ITA Indoors, even when i trained myself in tennis..